I don't know if you want the smutty stuff, but if not, no one writes them like Victoria Holt. My favorite is "The Judas Kiss." Jude Devaraux writes some good ones (The Duchess) but she's kind of hit or miss. Also Julie Garwood? She writes some very funny ones. And finally Liza Kleypas. I pretty much love all of hers, but my favorite would have to be "Suddenly You." Hope you like them!

I read Victoria Hold a lot when I was younger, but her mysteries, I don't remember her being too smutty. Deveraux, I've read all of her stuff. As well as Garwood and Kleypas. So we have the same tastes. Thanks.

Not sure if you're interested in non-fiction, but Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie is amazing. It's one of my favorite books ever, and delivers on all fronts. It's a romantic story that also weaves in the story of the fall of the Romanovs and of the Tsarist Russian empire. It's truly a great read and a great page turner.

I recently recommended some historical romances to a friend, so I happen to have the recs handy. :)

Here's what I wrote:

Flowers from the Storm, by Laura Kinsale, may be my favorite romance novel. A rakish lord who gets a stroke and is locked up in an asylum (I think) and the Quaker girl who helps heal him. It's kind of stunningly good, in my memory. She writes beautifully wounded heroes.

Loretta Chase. She started in Regencies, and one of my favorites of hers is a Regency, The English Witch. Of her historicals, her best-loved one is Lord of Scoundrels, which is very good, with well drawn characters but less story than I prefer. My favorite of hers is Captives of the Night, which is a sequel to The Lion's Daughter (which has a good story but I was lukewarm on the hero). She's VERY funny, very witty, and her books are also HOT. Captives of the Night isn't as funny as the others, but it has a good plot and great characters.

Judith Ivory writes in the Victorian time period. My favorite is probably The Proposition, which is a delightful twist on the Pygmalion tale (only a woman elocution teacher is training a rat catcher to pretend to be a gentleman), followed closely by Untie My Heart, which I'll have to reread to tell you what it's about. ;) Her tone is lyrical at times, very sensual.

I had to respond because you said Flowers from the Storm!!!!! -- that is one of my desert island books. That is MY favorite romance novel ever. I love most of her books, but the las three have been a little disappointing.

I haven't read either of the others but with LK's FftS as your first recommendation, I'll definitely check these ladies out.

Hope you don't mind a non-flist member sneaking in here (I was looking up your L/V thoughts for the last ep and saw this post).

The best historical romance I've read in the last 5 yrs was Daughter of the Game by Tracy Grant. I think it's categorized as a mystery. It's set in Regency era London, a couple discovers their entire relationship is based on a lie when their son is kidnapped. It doesn't sound romantic, but it is.

When it comes to historical romance I used to like Devereux (prior to her baby obsession), McNaught, then moved on to Julia Quinn, Mary Jo Putney, Loretta Chase, Lisa Kleypas, and Connie Brockway (As you Desire is her best one). If you don't mind a little melodrama and time travel with your Scottish and Colonial history there's always Gabaldon's Outlander series.

Sorry, I actually can't stand the Outlander books. I read the first one, slogged through it simply because of all the praise, but could not bring myself to attempt the 2nd or 3rd. It just did NOTHING for me.

If you could not make it through the 1st, good thing you didn't go further - 3 SUCKED!! And 4 and 5 were only mediocre. I picked up 6, read a couple of hundred pages and put it down, don't know when I will finish it.